Tanya & Dan's VR DCL!!!Dec 4, 2009 MK & Epcot Photoshoot Pics Posted

[CinderelliT]

Hello everyone!
My name is Tanya, and I am hoping to renew my vows on Dec. 12, 2009. (This year!!!) This will actually be my 9th wedding anniversary. (I was orginally married on Dec. 21, 2000) But it will be my 10th year with my DH. We like that this is in the middle of our 2 10 yr anniversaries. It will be the end of our 10 yrs as a couple, and the start of our 10 yrs as man and wife. However, this VR date is not set in stone for several reasons. (I will get to that later...)
I met my DH when I was in school at FSU. He was the GM of the Subway on the campus, and I went to work for him. It was pretty much love at first site for both of us. Our relationship moved really quickly, and we were engaged after dating for only a couple of months. We got married less than a year later, and none of our friends and family thought that we were serious, or that it would last. Well, here we are 10 yrs later, and we are still together, and still very much in love. We have watched our families and friends get divorced over and over again, and we are determined to not be that way. So we decided to do a VR ceremony. (I actually got a call today that my brother and my SIL of 13 yrs are splitting up. It's been really shocking. )
My DH had never been to any theme parks at all when we 1st got together. But I've now taken him to WDW 3 times, and Bush Gardens 1 time. The last trip to WDW was in 2007, and we went for 5 days with our children and his family. It was seriously like the best time of our lives, and we can't wait to go back! I totally have him hooked on Disney now! So this is one of the reasons that we want to do a VR there.
I will have to post pics of us and our 1st wedding, and all of my great ideas soon. For those of you who don't know: I live in a tiny town called Arcadia, FL. We have cows, oranges, & watermelons, and one Wal-Mart! This means that for where I live, there is only dial-up for internet. It would literally take me days to upload pics. So I'll have to do it when I go back to work after the holiday break. So in the meantime, bear with me as all I can do is write and

 

[CinderelliT]

I am a Realtor, and a poor one at that. My hubby and I own our own photo studio, which is a lot of fun. However, in this economy, it is really starting to put a strain on us financially. Dan, my DH, works on the weekends at a Wal-Mart distribution center. I am back in school trying to finish my Bachelor's degree and get my teacher certification. So money with us is really tight. I will probably have to go out and get another part time job here soon if I can find one, and if the economy does not improve. Living in a small town can have it's perks, but it can be really trying at times.
Because of this, we decided that it would not make since to try to do a DFTW. There are so many other things that we could spend that money on. However, we still want a really nice VR, so I believe that we are going to do it at The Swan and Dolphin. We've also considered doing it at the SOG, and even on the beach, but I desperately want a MK photo shoot. I called and emailed Disney Photography services about this, and they said for the time being, if I stay at the Swan and have my ceremony there, they will let me book a Bridal session at the MK!! I am so excited about this, but scared at the same time. What they can give, they can just as easily take away!!!
This has caused a bit of stress for me. I have to reserve all of my dates and stuff with The Swan, and then pay for the MK session in full. So I'll have to wait until I shoot some weddings at the end of January and beginning of Feb. before I can pay for it. Also I don't know how much a deposit is on a ceremony at The Swan. If anyone else out there has done it, please let me know!
I have contacted wedding planner Michele Butler with Justmarry. This is the company that The Swan works with. I have gone back and forth with her via email on several occassions, but I have gotten no prices yet!! She said that she was busy with the holidays, and it would take a while.
I think that me and my DH and family are going to do as much stuff ourselves as possible. Flowers, decor, and possibly even the wedding arch. I already have a lot of this stuff in my photo studio, so I wouldn't have to spend more money on it. I really want a horse drawn carriage - especially since I was supposed to get it the first time around and didn't then. (The buggy driver called out sick, and there were no back up drivers ) But I don't know if I can justify the price for the location. I don't know where the driver would take us.
Anyway, my orginal idea was to have a Fairytale, Cinderella themed wedding. I wanted a blue dress, and "glass slippers" and everything. But I keep finding all this great Mickey Mouse stuff, and very little Cinderella stuff. Plus this is a VR, and we want it to be fun! So, I think that we are going to a Mickey & Minnie themed wedding with Cinderella touches. My colors are sky blue, royal blue, white, and touches of pink. Blue and pink are my favorite colors!!
I've been talked out of the blue dress, and into a traditional gown. I can't make up my mind about this. I will probably go try some on, but this requires going to a bridal salon over an hour away. So it will be a big production when I do get to go. In the meantime, I have been pouring over pictures on the net, and I have found a few that I love. Once I am able to, I will post pictures. Promise!! My favorites so far, are the Alfred Angelo dream in color collection, and a fabulous Maggie Sottero gown in silver. My DH hates the silver one, and wants me to wear white, with a light blue sash. I am hesitant about wearing white, since I already did the big white poofy dress. ( I would wear it again too!! If only I could squeeze my big butt into it! )
Anyway, if I get the castle shoot, then I will get a big dress. Otherwise, it is up in the air for a while.
I have read several other DISbrides PJ's, and I have gotten a lot of ideas. I also bought a fabulous pair of blue high heels from the UK off of Ebay!! I cannot wait until they get here. I also like the idea of dying the crenoline (sp?) blue! I think that I am going to go this route. I have also already bought a Mickey and Minnie Lenox figurine off Ebay for $20!! I couldn't believe the steal of a deal on that one. It's here and in perfect condition.
I have also made some pew bows out of Blue and Silver Christmas ribbon I got on clearance at Wal-Mart. I also bought 25 (approx. # of guests) royal blue gift bags on clearance as favor bags. I have made my hidden mickey bling for my bouquet out of wire and crystals (thanks to another DISer for those instructions). I also have started making hidden mickey Christmas ornaments out of wire and crystals for favors.
I have found a lot of stuff like invites, jewelry, etc. that I want to get online, but I'll have to get it piece by piece as we get more business into our studio. I tried making a photo save the date, but it looks pretty bad compared to some of the great ideas I've seen.
I'll have to post more when I can get pics uploaded!! I have so many ideas and thoughts. I really hope that I can pull this off in a year! Good luck to all you other brides out there.

 

[padisneyfour]

Tanya, you have a great head start on things! everything will come together. good luck with all your plans and have fun....

 

[CinderelliT]

Thanks!! So far, it has been a little crazy, but a lot of fun!!
I just bought material today to try to make a Mickey head shaped ring bearer pillow. I've had a blast making the pattern! I've got 4 different kinds of material: pink satin, blue satin, pink princess, and blue mickeys. I'm going to play around with it and see what looks the best.
I've read a good portion of your PJ, and I have gotten some really good tips!!

 

[padisneyfour]

glad to know my pj has given you some ideas (sometimes I just feel like I am rambling) but I have gotten alot of ideas here too from past disbrides! Your rb pillow sounds cute (sometimes you do have to play around it see what looks best)would love to see a pic it when its done! good luck and looking forward to hearing more of your plans

 

[CinderelliT]

I've made some progress today! Michele from JustMarry got back with me today via email. The first quote she gave me was $4,220 for everything that I asked. This includes:
the ceremony cite, 20 chairs, a musician, a horse drawn carriage, 2 large ferns with roman columns, a table for the sand ceremony, a two tier cake, 4 bottles of champagne for toasting, 2 doves for a dove release, and an arch covered in flowers (not just bunches in 3 spots).
I was a little shocked at first, but it is pretty close to what we figured. I am going to hire Randy Chapman to do my photography, so I have to pay for that separately.
I emailed Michele back and asked about taking out the horse drawn carriage, the musician, and the columns with ferns to try to lower the cost.
She replied and said she would get me a new price, and that I can always book the bare minimum to reserve my date, and then add on more later. That's a relief!!
So hopefully by tomorrow, I'll have another quote, and maybe even a contract to reserve my date!!!

 

[CinderelliT]

glad to know my pj has given you some ideas (sometimes I just feel like I am rambling) but I have gotten alot of ideas here too from past disbrides! Your rb pillow sounds cute (sometimes you do have to play around it see what looks best)would love to see a pic it when its done! good luck and looking forward to hearing more of your plans

I think the rambling is a good thing! It helps me to know what other brides are thinking - which is usually the same sort of crazy obessing that I am doing!! It's such a relief to have an outlet here. Even my DH, who is excited about this like I am, thinks that I talk and think about Disney way too much!! Here, I am not the only one.

 

[CinderelliT]

I also went to Port Charlotte today. It's the next closest, decent size town. I stopped by JoAnn Fabrics to get some Royal Blue satin for my ring bearer pillow project. I also got interfacing to make Mickey Mouse head t-shirts.
Then we went over to Michael's (which is our arts and crafts store), and I got some really cute Disney scrapbooking paper, along with fairytale lollipop molds.
These are really cute. It comes in a pack of 3 - one is a castle, one is a princess, and one is a pumpkin carriage. I am going to try to make some as favors. However, I'm sure that I will enjoy eating my trial ones!!

 

[CinderelliT]

Yay!!!! I got my pictures to upload!! This is so exciting!!
This is like the worst picture - I didn't scan it well. These are the lollipop molds I got. I am going to make a trial run this weekend and see how I do. I'm going to start with one color though. I'll have to work my way up to multicolors.

 

[CinderelliT]

Here are some of my favorite dresses:
This one is an Alfred Angelo - and this is the color blue that I want

This one is by Impression bridal, and the sash only comes in purple - but I was thinking of having a dress maker make a copy of it for me, and then make the sash in light blue

I've got a bigger picture of the front on my work computer that I'll post later.

This is the cake that I am in love with, but it is $1200 and feeds 150!!! I need to try and find a cheaper, smaller version of this. (I am planning on only having 20-25 guests.)

I love the little gold hidden Mickeys all over it, and the cake mouse ears on top.
I welcome anyone's suggestions for an alternative cake!

 

[CinderelliT]

This is the most recent pic of me and my DH.

 

[CinderelliT]

Here are some picts from 9 yrs ago at our first wedding:

 

[CinderelliT]

This is my wedding ring. I am not the biggest fan of gold, but my band has been in my family for over 100 years. So when it was given to me, I was very happy! I helped my DH choose my engagement ring. We had decided on the beach to get married. We talked about it for a while, and felt that it was best if we grew together in the same direction. It was several months after that before he got down on one knee and proposed out at Lake Ella in Tallahassee. (That is where the recent picture of us was taken.)
A couple of years ago, for mother's day, he got me the enhancer to go around my engagement ring. It has three small round diamonds on either side. They look very close to mickey ears!
Now I am on the hunt for a Mickey wedding band, or an anniversary band.

 

[CinderelliT]

Here are my children - Drew and Mackenzie.

This is my favorite picture of them!! I want to have a necklace made with this in it - Think Kate Gosselin

They look so sweet to each other when they are in my studio, but it's only because I bribe them with candy!!

I am not going to have any bridesmaids or a wedding party since this is a VR. I am going to have the two of them instead as my flower girl and ring bearer.

 

[CinderelliT]

Here is a larger picture of us on our wedding day. We were married at this place called Nicolson's Farmhouse and Restaurant in Havana, FL. It is just outside of Tallahassee. It was this neat place where they had moved all these old historic buildings and homes, and they had turned it into a little old fashioned city. They had a general store, a restaurant, the gazebo (where our ceremony was), and some other homes. It was beautiful! They are now no longer open for business...

This is one of my trials for an invitation. I want to print it on cardstock, and then put a larger piece of royal blue sparkly cardstock behind it, and tie it together with a ribbon. It's a work in progress!

This is the front of one of my favorite dresses!
Here are my other favorites - both by Maggie Sottero:

I can't decide between them!! My DH's fav is the one with the purple sash (I want it in blue though). He doesn't like the goldish colored dress. And I think that one is my favorite!!

 

[Keira1387]

Wow, I love them all, but the last one is beautiful!!! Who is that made by?

 

[CinderelliT]

Wow, I love them all, but the last one is beautiful!!! Who is that made by?

Maggie Sottero
I LOVE your dress!! Looking at your pictures is one of the reasons that I want a dress with a pick up skirt. Where did you get yours, and what style is it?

 

[Keira1387]

Thank you! I really love the look of the pick up! My dress is by allure bridal. http://www.Allurebridals.com I bought it at a local bridal store. The style number is 8329. Here is a stock picture of it:

 

[CinderelliT]

Thank you! I really love the look of the pick up! My dress is by allure bridal. http://www.Allurebridals.com I bought it at a local bridal store. The style number is 8329. Here is a stock picture of it:

Gorgeous!! I love it in that gold color as well! Since this is a VR, I can't decide if I want white, or something more similar to this.

 

[CinderelliT]

My daughter will only be 3 at the time of our ceremony, so I wanted something to suit her. I was going to get her a dress with the pick up skirt as well, but I think it looks a little mature for her.
I think that this is the one I am going to order:

It suits her better!